Africanews
African countries are striving hard to sustain their economies. The challenge Africa now faces is the will of member countries in the regional economic groupings coming out of the very situation which was their reason for the creation of the said groupings. |
It has been 16 years now since African leaders committed themselves to the creation of dynamic and inter-dependent economies at the national and regional levels to pave way for the eventual establishment of an African Common Market.The idea which was adopted during a meeting in Lagos, Nigeria in 1980 by African heads of state and governments, was meant to lead to a continental Economic Community.
However, after that commitment was made, not much progress has been made towards the establishment of an African Common Market, let alone an African Economic Community.
"There has been no appreciable progress in any of the three core areas of regional economic integration and co-operation, namely the integration of physical and institutional structures and of the African markets," says Prof. George Benneh, former vice-chancellor of the University of Ghana.
Various reasons have been assigned for the dismal performance and many people who were filled with hope as their leaders enunciated the needs and benefits of integration have now turned cynical over the evolution of African economic groupings.
Given the benefits of integration and the great potentials created by the regional groupings, the limited extent to which the community protocols have been implemented would appear surprising.
In the case of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the gap between aspirations and achievements is large and discomforting. The frustration created by the slow progress of ECOWAS in many spheres is epitomised by exPresident Dauda Jawara of the Gambia, when as Chairman of the ECOWAS in 1988, said upon a reflection of the performance of ECOWAS - "We move from the problematic to what is in danger of becoming unattainable."
According to Mr Alhaji Hassan Adamu, President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, "a major constraint to the operations of regional groupings is the failure of member countries to pull themselves out of the very political and economic conditions that made the creation of the said groupings necessary in the first place.
He also says "an unwillingness to cede some sovereignty, which may be necessary to provide assurances of durability of integration arrangements, is also a cause for the foot-dragging and non-co-operative attitude among the states."
Prof. Benneh, however, believes that the situation is not due to lack of commitment on the part of African governments to the concept and practice of economic integration.
To him, it appears that the political will to forge ahead with economic integration is lacking in adequate measure because the African leadership is not sufficiently informed about the advantages of co-operation and integration and therefore unsure that their sacrifices would be adequately rewarded.
As such, he thinks that there is the urgent need to provide an empirically- based information source which would, in a sustained way, induce dynamic African leadership to effectively manage the integration process at the continental, regional and national levels.
He together with his colleagues at the University of Ghana have now teamed up to establish a centre to undertake research and offer training and consultancy towards economic cooperation and integration of the continent.
The African Centre for Regional Integration (ACRI) which is being established at the University of Ghana, is expected to begin work next year. The centre will provide new directions to the current integration process in Africa and increase awareness of the interlocking challenges to African regionalism.
It will also direct the surge of interest on the subject of economic integration into constructive and productive channels and provide programmes and guidelines for direction.
Besides, it will share experiences of regionalism with similar institutions the world over and promote cultural, linguistic and geographical perspectives to advance the cause of regional integration and generally become the vanguard instrument for rapid economic integration in Africa.
A committee of experts has been constituted by the university to work out the final modalities for the centre to be operational next year.
Welcoming the choice of Ghana as host of the notable project, Ghana's President Jerry John Rawlings acknowledged that the country has for many years been at the vanguard of African economic co-operation and integration. Ghana's first President, the late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, had his foremost consideration on the socio-economic development of the continent and was very instrumental in the strive for African integration and co-operation.
In recent times, Ghana's chairmanship of ECOWAS from 1994-96 was devoted not only to finding a lasting solution to the Liberian crisis but also to encourage and promote economic co-operation.
"We have noticed to our disappointment that in spite of the proliferation of regional economic groupings, little progress regional economic groupings, relatively has been made to realize the goals and objectives of regionalisation in Africa," president Rawlings said.
He, however, indicated that "notwithstanding the few strides made in African economic cooperation and integration, Ghana's faith and commitment to regionalisation as a key strategy to African development has not wavered.
"I would like to assure you that our commitment to, and interest in regionalisation will no doubt be further stimulated in the coming years with the establishment of the centre," president Rawlings said.
In line with the centre's objective, a two-day workshop designed to stimulate interest in the regional integration held in Accra from September 17 to 18 at which far-reaching proposals were made by eminent scholars.
Contributions from representatives of the Southern African Development Community, ECOWAS, European Union, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa among others created the needed impetus for the smooth take-off of the centre's activities.
USAGE/ACKNOWLED
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PeaceLink 1996